Atwal plays the waiting game; but two big guns go silent at The Open

By Rahul Banerji

Arjun Atwal was making gains at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky on Saturday even as the world had its eyes glued on Northern Ireland and the ongoing British Open where Shubhankar Sharma had swapped a bogey for a birdie early on in his third round.

Atwal, who made a comeback from a nagging back injury some weeks ago and has racked up some impressive performances including at the 3M Open and John Deere Classic, was tied for 60^th place early on day three of the $3.5 million PGA Tour event in Nicholasville.

The Florida resident opened with a 1-under par 71 and followed up with a 69 on day two to make the cut and would have been much better placed with six brdies on the day before a bogey and a double on the last two holes on Friday dented his card badly.

The Barbasol winner stands to earn a slot at the next PGA Championship and Atwal currently sits nine shots off the lead as third day action began a short while ago.

Story of opposites

Meanwhile, it was a tale of two eliminated golfers at The Open that had golf followers transfixed on Friday.

Tiger Woods never came close to making it past the second day with a 6-over aggregate (78, 70) on the Dunluce Links in Portrush, but big local hope Rory McIlroy fell agonisingly short.

The Ulsterman has had a strong run this year but was caught out early on Thursday itself with a horrendous quadruple bogey and a triple book-ending his opening round of 8-over par 79.

But he showed tremendous fire and spirit in trying to hunt down the cut mark despite that massive handicap with a course record-equalling 6-under 65 that still left him one short of making it to the weekend rounds.

There was admiration – and some tears – at the end of the gallant charge with a house full of his countrymen willing him on with every shot.

Fun run

“It was one of the most fun runs of golf I have ever played,” McIlroy said later. “I wish I could have been a part of it for two more days.

“Today I really felt the love from the crowd, so many of them out there willing me on and wanting me to be there for the weekend.

“But I’ll look back at this week with nothing but fondness and positivity and I can’t wait to come back here and play in another Open Championship.

“I am so proud of Portrush, Northern Ireland, the R&A for bringing it back here, and everyone involved. It means the world to me.”

For one who set the bar for so many years en route to 15 major titles, however, there was very little to take away from his visit to the European side of the Atlantic despite three Open titles of the past.

“I’m going to have my hot weeks. I’m going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments,” Tiger Woods was quoted as saying on Friday.

“But there are times when I’m just not going to be there and that wasn’t the case 20-some-odd years ago. I had a different body and I was able to be a little bit more consistent.

“I love the atmosphere and I love the stress of playing in a major. Unfortunately, I’ve only had a chance to win one of them and was able to do it but at the other three I didn’t do very well.

“I just want some time off just to get away from it. I just want to go home.”

Also read: Atwal ends 3M Open campaign T23, lands JD Classic invite